IntroductionDefinitive
Technology has built one of the single most impressive brands in the
highly competitive world of loudspeakers. Definitive has built a name
where they are a “call brand” loudspeaker that consumers demand with
the likes of Bose, Boston Acoustics, B&W, Paradigm, Klipsch and a
handful of the other biggest manufacturers. While Definitive
Technology’s ads and mighty distribution certainly have aided the
company’s growth, it is more the bang for the buck performance that
keeps consumers asking for them and dealers pushing. Whether you are
looking for wafer-thin speakers for your new 63-inch HDTV or you need
no-holds-barred audiophile floor-standing speakers, Definitive has a
solution for you. In the case of this review, the Super Towers are in
the latter class – they are ultimate floor-standing speakers, a
statement without question in terms of sound as well as value.

The BP7000SCs arrived at my house right on the heels of
some of audiophiles’ most touted and coveted loudspeakers: Magnepan
3.6, Gallo Reference, Martin Logan and even Wilson Audio. My room prior
to the BP7000SC Super Towers’ arrival was truly a revolving door of
noncommittal relationships as I searched for Miss Right Now. Needless
to say, the Super Towers had their work cut out for them.

I unpacked the BP7000SCs, which is without question a job for two
people (or better yet, two installers), and sat them haphazardly in the
middle of my room for a once-over. The BP7000SCs are truly epic in more
ways than one. For starters, they are quite large, measuring a little
less than nine inches wide by 16 inches deep and a towering
52-and-a-half inches high. Visually, the BP7000SCs are Definitive
through and through, with their black piano gloss base and top plates
and black fabric sides. The BP7000SCs are also quite heavy and, while I
didn’t have a scale on hand to accurately measure the BP7000SCs’ true
weight, I’d venture a guess and say they’re upwards of 150 pounds
apiece. All of these figures add up to one gargantuan loudspeaker.
However, their price of $4,998 a pair is rather modest in comparison to
the competition, which can fairly be priced as much as four to five
times the retail price.

Behind the seams, the BP7000SC has a true bi-polar design, with its
high-mounted, dual six-and-a-half inch midrange drivers and single
one-inch aluminum dome tweeter mirrored on the speaker’s backside. The
BP7000SC is fairly efficient for a speaker of its size and stature,
with a stated efficiency of 92dB into a rather benign eight-ohm load.
Each of the BP7000SCs feature a 14-inch Super Cube® long-throw powered
subwoofer, coupled to two 14-inch infrasonic radiators. The internal
sub is powered by an internal ***1800-watt*** Class D amplifier, which
gives the BP7000SC a stated frequency response of 11Hz-30kHz.
Definitive Technology states that the single 14-inch sub inside the
BP7000SC is capable of achieving depths equal to that of seven
stand-alone Super Cube® subwoofers. If even half of that statement is
true, we’re talking about a copious amount of bass. The subwoofer
portion of the BP7000SC can be controlled via the speaker’s binding
posts and large, rear-mounted volume pot or via the LFE input. This
allows you connectivity options you just don’t get with even the
highest-priced loudspeakers. However, due to the presence of a powered
subwoofer, the BP7000SC must be plugged into a standard US outlet or
power conditioner to take advantage of the prodigious bass
capabilities.

Set-up
After I took stock in all that the BP7000SCs had to offer, I began the
process of integrating them into my system. For starters, I placed them
in approximately in the same place where the Yao Ming-like Magnepan
3.6s had rested. This put the BP7000SCs roughly three feet from my
front wall and two-and-a-half feet from each of the side walls. To be
fully forthright, most of my speakers find themselves roughly in this
position in my room, as this yields the best overall coherence and
sound stage depth. However, unlike the Maggies, the BP7000SCs did sound
best with considerable toe-in, with the main midrange drivers and
tweeter coming to a point virtually right at the listening position.
There was some minor tweaking here and there but, for the most part, I
had achieved a suitable sound, at least throughout the midrange and
high frequencies, with little effort. I connected the bass or Super
Cube® portion of the BP7000SCs to my Meridian G68’s LFE output using a
splitter. However, after much experimentation, I found I preferred to
simply run the BP7000SCs full range through single and very sexy runs
of Transparent Reference speaker cable. This configuration allowed me
to set my processor’s speaker settings to Large and then dial in the
sub’s overall volume at the speaker itself. This configuration also
came in handy when I connect the BP7000SCs to my two-channel rig,
consisting of a Mark Levinson 433 amplifier and matching 326 preamp
(reviews pending on both Mark Levinson components), which doesn’t have
a speaker setting and must run everything full-range. I ended up
setting the volume dials on each of the speakers to roughly 10’o clock,
with high noon signaling halfway. That’s a scary thought, considering
the amount of blissful bass I experienced at such a low setting;
needless to say, I didn’t really scratch the surface of the BP7000SCs’
sub-sonic output.

I must also point out that, for the course of this review, Definitive
Technology sent me a matching full-range powered center, the L/C/R
3000, and a pair of bipolar surrounds, the BPVX/Ps. I should also
mention that, should you invest in this system, the entire system price
for what I’ve just described will run you roughly $7,500. Considering
the price of most high-end multi-channel speaker groupings, it’s an
astonishingly low figure for a full-range speaker system.

Movies And TelevisionI
kicked things off with the Peter Malick Group, featuring the
ever-popular Norah Jones (Koch Records). This tremendous recording
features Jones’ trademark breathy vocals, accompanied by the
well-recorded stylings of blues guitarist Peter Malick. The opening
track, “New York City,” features a very articulate drum line
accompanied by a punchy yet slow rolling bass guitar. Through the
BP7000SCs, the bass lines were rendered with excellent heft and impact
while retaining all the necessary speed and articulation found in all
of the best acoustic recordings. The kick drum has a
three-dimensionality to it that you’ll need a true full-range speaker
to fully realize, which the BP7000SCs provided time and again. The kick
drum was beautifully rendered and on par with the best in terms of
breath, extension and weight. One cannot fault the BP7000SCs’ large
subwoofer drivers for being slow; in fact, they are among the most
nimble I’ve heard in recent memory. Moving up the spectrum, Norah’s
vocals were as pristine as ever. The BP7000SC’s tweeter is nearly
without rival in terms of air, extension and ultimate sweetness. I tend
to shy away from aluminum tweeters as, more often than not, they are
brittle and can become harsh at louder volumes. Well, the BP7000SC’s
tweeter doesn’t fall into this camp. It only gets better with more
volume. If I had to fault it, I’d say it doesn’t retain all of its
magic when played by at low levels usually reserved for background
music during cocktail parties. Then again, at those levels, you’re not
critically listening anyway, so there you go. Where the BP7000SCs
really shine is throughout the midrange, which is delightfully rich
without becoming overtly bloated, a trait beautifully illustrated
throughout Norah’s vocals. The midrange is warm and has a tinge of
added weight to it, but the result is fantastic when judged against the
speaker’s other elements. More importantly, for a speaker with so many
drivers, the sonic presentation is seamless. The BP7000SCs can image in
a ways that defy their large stature, seemingly disappearing, leaving
only music and one hell of a center image behind. The BP7000SCs’
soundstage is second to none. If given space, and they do need space,
the BP7000SCs’ soundstage can and will best my longstanding reference,
the Magnepan 3.6s. Not only did the BP7000SCs’ soundstage extend
further and wider than the 3.6s had, they had a firmer grip on the
music even in the furthest reaches of their capabilities then the 3.6s
could ever hope to achieve.

Moving onto the track
“Deceptively Yours,” which is a bit more up-tempo than the previous
track, the BP7000SCs continued to grace me with magic. The opening drum
riff that heralds Norah’s vocals was impressive. It’s not a bombastic
fill, but it does burst onto the scene about 10 seconds into the track
and sets the tempo for what’s to come. Once again, the subs proved most
impressive, giving the entire track a fullness you’d never know you
were missing until you incorporated subwoofers properly into your
system. The entire song had an extra injection of funk because of the
staggering bass performance of the BP7000SCs. I cranked the volume to
the edge of my listening envelope for the guitar solo and found I could
actually take it a little further, for the BP7000SCs never became harsh
or fatiguing. The bluesy guitar riff was richly and rightly detailed
with the appropriate amount of warmth and subtle sonic twang that the
BP7000SCs just had a ball swanking out. It really was kind of cool and
a bit refreshing, for here I was basking in the glory of a speaker
system that seemingly gets it for the cost you’d expect to pay in tax
alone for the competition. And they do bass. Go figure.

I switched gears a bit and opted for a recent Pearl Jam release, Riot
Act (Epic). The opening to the track “I Am Mine” was rife with detail.
The cymbals don’t sparkle the way some recordings do, but they were
dead on for what they were. You could tell the cymbals were being
beaten, for the shimmer was replaced with a hint of flat slap that the
tweeter of the BP7000SCs reproduced beautifully. The drums once again
reigned supreme, lending a truer sense of weight and scale to the
somewhat tamer sound of today’s mature Pearl Jam. Eddie Vedder’s vocals
were dead center in the soundstage and retained all the grit and
rawness a decade of screaming would hope to produce, yet there was a
slightly greater palpability to it all through the BP7000SCs’ warmer
midrange. The midrange characteristic never detracted from the tonality
or, I should say, tone and message of the song itself.

Moving onto the track “You Are,” the opening guitars were raw and
loaded with energy. Through the BP7000SCs, the guitars were sure-footed
and full-bodied, never becoming overtly harsh or troublesome to the
rest of the musical spectrum. Dynamically, the BP7000SCs proved to be a
tour de force. “You Are” features several abrupt changes in tempo,
usually followed by abrupt stops altogether. Well, for such a large and
seemingly menacing speaker with its powered woofers, the BP7000SCs are
as quick on their feet as Ali. They can float like a butterfly and
sting like a sledgehammer to the skull. As unpleasant as that may sound
to some, trust me, you’ll get in line to experience it again and again.

All and all, be it rock and roll or ensemble jazz, the BP7000SCs
seemingly have no prejudices, they’re in the business of making music …
and business is good. Real good.

For their next trick, I fed the BP7000SCs some traditional DVD fare by
way of the Pixar juggernaut Finding Nemo (Disney). Skipping ahead to
the sea turtle scenes, the BP7000SCs, with some help from the matching
center and surrounds, proved as fun as they were articulate. For
starters, the sound designers who recreated the ocean for an
all-virtual environment, which is no easy task, were not robbed of
their efforts one iota by the BP7000SCs’ output. The sonic landscape
was immense, packing my room with all the subtlety that the ocean had
to offer and more, no doubt helped by the BP7000SC’s bipolar design.
Even with the most subtle sonic cues, such as the characters swimming
against an oceanic current, were easily heard and discerned from the
film’s other elements. The off-screen dialogue was rendered through the
BP7000SCs with the same importance and presence as if it was mixed for
the center channel. The BP7000SCs allow for every minute detail to come
to life without causing undue impact to the rest of the audio canvas.
Across all three front channels, the sonic characteristic was seamless,
bowling me over with a wave sonic brilliance. When the scene picks up
and the score kicks, in the rumbling drums of the surfer-esque musical
track was as home with the BP7000SCs as I am in my own bed. The bass
was, once again, simply stunning. No scene illustrates this more than
when the brace-faced villain Darla thumps on the glass of the dentist’s
aquarium. The bass was so tremendous that it moved my chunky wooden
coffee table across the floor of my theater, and did so without
distortion or bloat. Keep in mind that I had the subs dialed in to a
third of their total output. So, unless your theater is the size of,
say, Rhode Island, you’re covered. Dynamically, the BP7000SCs seemingly
have no rivals, as they are able to turn on a dime and go from zero to
everything in the blink of an eye.

To go over the top with the BP7000SCs, I spun up the Tom Cruise and
Steven Spielberg hit War of the Worlds (Paramount Home Entertainment).
I skipped ahead to the scene where the aliens emerge from the city
streets and begin to wreak havoc on the Boston common folk. Again, the
bass took center stage. However, the BP7000SCs’ tweeters were not to be
outdone. Through lesser speakers, the aliens’ ray guns sizzle with
little fanfare, as they turn the public into ashtray fodder. With the
BP7000SCs in my theater, the laser-like ray had an added sense of
sinister power, as you could hear the subtlest sounds of cooking
through the tweeters. When the bodies do finally go “poof,” the
scattering of their ashes is much more deliberate and textured through
the BP7000SCs than through other speakers, which pass their ashes more
or less like noise then human matter. The added midrange warmth of the
BP7000SCs during these moments provided a greater sense of air and
weight to the vaporized bodies as the wind caught the remains and
tossed them about downtown. The shattering glass as the aliens mow
through town was amazingly nimble and the BP7000SCs’ ability to resolve
macro detail was more than apparent, as I could audibly track seemingly
every shard’s journey to the ground. Again, the bass performance was
simply epic, regardless of what was happening on the screen. The
BP7000SCs produce the type of sound you need in your room if you’re
using a projection-based system, for anything less will be anemic at
best and simply won’t do if your screen is pushing upwards of 92 inches
diagonally.

The DownsideI
find it rationally hard to fault the Definitive Technology BP7000SCs
for anything. Frankly, past complaints about their size and look I feel
are a bit unfounded, for these are big speakers in the business of
producing big sound. What else can you expect? Sure, BP7000SCs need a
bit of breathing room and a nearby power outlet or two, but I have to
imagine that those of you smart enough to welcome the BP7000SCs into
your home are also savvy enough to know how to call an electrician to
move a socket or two.

These speakers are heavy and,
because they are physically thinner than most speakers in their class,
are prone to tipping. However, the included carpet spikes really go a
long way toward solving this problem.

Quite honestly, the biggest issue I had with the BP7000SCs was their
piano gloss end caps, which not only showed fingerprints like nobody’s
business, but were harder to keep clean and dust-free than any speaker
I’ve ever encountered. I had my Swiffer on permanent standby throughout
the duration of the review.

Conclusion
The Definitive Technology BP7000SC Super Towers, with a retail price
just shy of five grand, are as close to a true masterpiece of audio
engineering as anything I’ve encountered in all my years in audio. They
do equal justice to music and movies and everything else in between. No
longer does the rationale of compromise need to enter the audio debate.

Compare the Definitive Technology BP7000SC loudspeakers with the best
from the world of ultra-high end and you might find overall the
Definitive speaker system is the most well-rounded in a group that
includes speakers costing as much as a new Prius. With a big yet
detailed sound, it’s just hard to beat such a rocking loudspeaker
system. At their price, the Definitive Technology BP7000SCs are simply
amazing.